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Posts tagged with the category Sustainability

Sometimes, It Pays to Think

Bill Gates apparently took time out of his busy schedule to guest edit the December 2013 issue of Wired Magazine. In that issue is an article entitled, "This is the Man Bill Gates Thinks you Absolutely Should be Reading." The article opens with the quotation from Gates, “’There is no author whose...

Will Cyborgs Ever Learn to Pray?

One morning last week, I awoke from a strange dream. I don’t recall all the particulars, but it involved a scene where I was living and working with a group of “not-quite-human” creatures made of silicone, integrated circuits and bio-engineered, synthetic flesh. These engineered creatures seemed to have acquired human-like...

Social Media, Shared Learning, and the Consciousness of Collaboration

Recently, through a Saybrook University learning experiment entitled “Project X” participants were immersed in a learning experience designed through the lens of social media. The course was on Evolutionary Leadership for Sustainability and was facilitated by Kathia Laszlo, Ph.D. As a bit of a flanuer, I observed the class for research...

The School, Soul, Language, and Business of Sustainability

On a snowy, bitterly cold Minneapolis afternoon, when my then-preschooler finally fell asleep after hours of stalling and my dog shook off large clusters of ice onto the kitchen floor following his backyard romp, it took some self-control and compassion to not snap at my mother. My compassion came from a place within that reminded me, “We...

A New Era for the Practice of Organization Development

It has been a little over 45 years since the term Organization Development (OD) was first used in print to refer to that distinctive profession and consulting practice which aims to help organizations become more effective by means of systematic interventions focusing on organizational culture, processes and structure. During its short...

Creating Ripples: Reflections on the Realities of Military Combat and Posttraumatic Stress in Our Veterans

Traumatic stress reactions and related disorders comprise some of the most prominent human afflictions in the world today, especially with the pervasiveness of war and terrorism. In the past three decades there has been growing public interest and focus on the impact of traumatic events on humanity. This interest has been reflected in...

Leadership for Local & Global Resilience

Last week I attended the 15th Annual International Leadership Association Global Conference in Montreal. The conference theme was Leadership for Local and Global Resilience, recognizing the need for leaders to innovate and lead sustainable change in our local and global communities and organizations. This academic conference brought together...

Systems thinking and courage

In all the books and research papers on systems thinking that I have read, I don't think I have yet found the word courage as part of the language used. There is a lot written about systems thinking in terms of it's relevance and importance, it's theories and methodologies, but nothing about what it takes--emotionally. And I'm...

Shopping with Awareness and Interconnection

The holidays are around the corner, and I just read that Macy’s will be open on Thanksgiving for the first time in its history. The leaders of the chain of retail stores want to capitalize on the market demand for holiday shopping as much as they can, following the lead of retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, among others. By extending the...

The month of April is a very important one for me and this year marks the 10th anniversary of my birthing. A very important, if not, perhaps my most important life moment that happened to take place on Earth Day. Upon deeper reflection on being bestowed with the gift of motherhood and my role as a mother, I feel both challenged and inspired. One...

How can we best support cross-organizational collaboration?

It seems that many of the conversations I am engaged in these days focus on the need for organizations to collaborate. When I first started working in the area of collaboration, the focus was on creating cultures in organizations that supported people in collaborating across their often siloed functional structures. Maybe that was the...

Family Business as a Model for Sustainability and Social Responsibility

I have been interviewing family owners of large global family enterprises that have sustained the family wealth and positive connections over several generations. One member of the 4th generation of a family--now numbering more than 100 family owners--reflected on her experience of going to annual family business meetings for nearly a half century...